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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission has power to prosecute businesses in behalf of consumers for unfair and deceptive business practices. They also regulate the credit collection and reporting industries.

Consumers Union

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is an independent, nonprofit testing and information organization serving only consumers. We are a comprehensive source for unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health and nutrition, and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public, and protect consumers. Our income is derived solely from the sale of Consumer Reports and our other services, and from noncommercial contributions, grants, and fees. Consumers Union is governed by a board of 18 directors, who are elected by CU members and meet three times a year. Consumers Union's President, Jim Guest, oversees a staff of more than 450.

Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) system in the U.S. extends across the nation; coast-to-coast, and in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. Since the founding of the first BBB in 1912, the BBB system has proven that the majority of marketplace problems can be solved fairly through the use of voluntary self-regulation and consumer education.

Federal Dept of Consumer Protection

Please note that each State and locality has it's local government consumer protection agency. Please use the "Find Your Community Page" above to find your local consumer protection agency.

It is VERY important for consumers to report fraud and unfair business practises they experience. These agencies have legal power to stop activities that harm consumers, but they cannot act on a single complaint. They can take action when the receive several consumers complaints.

National Center for Victims of Crime

National Center for Victims of Crime helps victims of crime rebuild their lives. The National Center for Victims of Crime works to make sure all crime victims get the assistance and information they need.

National Crime Victim Law Institute

The National Crime Victim Law Institute actively promotes balance and fairness in the justice system through crime victim centered legal advocacy, education and resource sharing.

National Sexual Violence Resource Center

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) is a comprehensive collection and distribution center for information, research and emerging policy on sexual violence intervention and prevention. The NSVRC provides an extensive on-line library and customized technical assistance, as well as, coordinates National Sexual Assault Awareness Month initiatives.

Consumer Advocacy

Established in 1909 by Clifford W. Beers, a former psychiatric patient, the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) is the nation's first and oldest consumer-led organization. As the leader in advocating for consumers' rights, today we are building on this strong legacy with our Office of Consumer Advocacy, created to work in partnership with the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse. The office helps to broaden NMHA's involvement in the growing consumer/survivor movement through leadership development and technical assistance to NMHA affiliates and other organizations.

Coming Soon!

More Great Articles for Consumers!

Know Your Legal Rights in Credit Reporting
How Avoid Identity Theft
How To Recognise a Scam
What You Can Do To Curb Spam
Buying Over the Internet
Protecting Your Privacy
And much more for consumers!!

Watch Out For Cramming

By D. Syfert

What is cramming?

It's practice where third-party companies bill you for services through your telephone company's bill. Unfortunately, they don't need to show your phone company any proof of autorization to do this. All they need is your name, phone number and address; and WHAM! you've been crammed with charges on your phone bill for so called "services" you know nothing about.

It happened to me this September. My monthly phone bill on my land line with Verizon is a flat rate because I use a voice over IP service for my long-distence service and pay them directly. When my September Verizon bill was $30 more than usual I called Verizon customer support to find out why.

Unauthorized charges on my phone bill...

They pointed out some new charges, hidden on the back of the last page of the billing statement, billed by a company called Integretel Inc. I never heard of Integretel Inc. and I didn't understand how they could just start billing me for something I never ordered or received.

The Verizon customer support representative helping me explained that this type of thing happens to many of their customers. She gave me a phone number to reach Integretel Inc. and explained I had to call them and complain to get the charges reversed off my Verizon bill.

I immediately did this and the Integretel Inc. representative I spoke with assured me the account was canceled. My next Verizon bill the Septmber Integretel charge was reversed, but I was again billed a monthly fee by Integretel Inc. for October.

Deregulation laws prevent Verizon from stopping unauthorized charges

Furious I again called Verizon. This time the Verizon support representative told me that even though this is happening to a lot of their customers, they are powerless to do anything since deregulation. He explained that deregulation laws specify that Verizon and other local phone service prodiders must let third party service providers bill customers for services like long-distance through the local carrier's bill.

I told him that makes sense if I'm authorizing a company to bill me because they are providing me a legitamate service like long-distance, but that I never heard of Integretel Inc. and I never purchased any service from them. As far as I was concerned, this was nothing more than fraud. I asked the Verizon representative if Verizon didn't have some responsibilty to protect it's customers from fraudulent billing by third party companies.

He explained that Integretel Inc. was a billing company that bills in behalf of many other companies, and that the company actually providing the service I was billed for was Email Network Discounts. He said that perhaps I should call them and gave me their phone number.

The Email Network Discount's representative I spoke with told me their records showed that indeed my account had been canceled. I would receive a credit for the billing on my October Verzion bill. That it that's a month before the billing process can be halted.

Filing a complaint with the FTC and my State Attorney

Imagine my frustration when in November, I was once again billed by Integretel Inc. in behalf of Email Network Discount. I did some internet research and discovered several complaints and legal actions taken against Integretel Inc., so I filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and with Oregon State Attorney Consumer Protection.

I called BOTH companies AGAIN. I told them I filed complaints against them; and was assured their records showed my account was canceled. They claimed that if I was still being billed by Verizon, that the problem was with Verizon.

When speaking with the Email Network Discount's representative I asked them how they got my phone number and address, since they had email address I opened only a few months earlier. They said I filled out a form on their website. I told them this didn't make sense because I did not recognize their company name. They said they sent me an email. I asked how they could send me an email before I filled anything out on their website.

Tricked by spam

I knew how: they spammed me. I remembered that shortly after opening my gmail account I received an email offering a $50 coupon for TGI Fridays for taking a survey. I'm a member of Friday's Club so I thought the email was from them and proceeded to fill out the survey, only to discover it was not truly a survey, but a never ending barrage of affiliate advertisement offers. I bailed out, but unfortunately I had provided them my phone number and address in the registration process.

Finally all the charges were reversed, but I won't know for sure if the billing has stopped until my December bill comes. I spent hours of my time on this, and it just doesn't seem right.

Cramming and slamming: big consumer problems

The Oregon Attorney's Office referred my complaint to the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Since I was able to resolve my problem and the charges were reversed, they closed my case. My complaint against Integretel and Email Discount Network are on file, so as more consumers complain against these companies, government agencies will have authority to investigate them.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission handles consumer complaints about unauthorized charges, known as cramming, like what I experienced, and unauthorized switching, known as slamming. They say both cramming and slamming occur at alarming rates, and most cases involve consumers clicking on something on the internet and providing a phone number and/or address unwittingly to a company resorting to these practices. They also confirmed what Verizon told me about their hands being tied due to a telecommunications deregulation Act passed by Congress back in the early 1980s. (I will research this and provide more information soon.)

Consumers Beware

The Oregon Public Utility Commission advices to never click on unsolicited email (spam) no matter how tempting the offer might be. Almost all incidents of cramming or slamming are initiated by a consumer unknowingly submitting an address or phone number to a shady company online. Watch for my next article on what consumers can do to draw lawmaker's attention to this problem and to possible solutions to this menace and spam.

FIRST SELECTION OF TOP SAFETY PICKS:
INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES 10 CAR DESIGNS THAT WIN

ARLINGTON, VA — The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety today announces 10 cars (2006 models) that win its first ever Top Safety Pick award. The awards recognize car designs that afford the best protection for people in front, side, and rear crashes, based on performance in Institute tests. The winning vehicles were chosen from among current models of small, midsize, and large cars plus minivans. There's a winner in three of these four groups. The winners include 2 large car designs, 7 midsize cars, and 1 small car. No minivans meet the Institute's criteria to earn a Top Safety Pick. Pickups and SUVs weren't included in this round of awards because side impact tests of most of these vehicles haven't been conducted yet.

"Now that we're rating vehicles' front, side, and rear crashworthiness, based on test performance, we decided to give consumers an overall assessment based on all three tests. These Top Safety Picks are replacing our previous 'best pick' designations that were awarded separately for front and side crash test performance," Institute president Brian O'Neill explains. "The new awards mean consumers can compare cars' ratings more quickly and easily. They won't have to review multiple sets of test results separately. And when we test new car designs as they are introduced next year, it's possible that some additional models will be added to the 2006 Top Safety Picks."

THE WINNERS
TOP SAFETY PICKS 2006
CARS & MINIVANS

Large
	Ford Five Hundred & twin Mercury Montego w/ optional side airbags
	Audi A6

Midsize
	Saab 9-3
	Subaru Legacy
	Audi A3
	Audi A4
	Chevrolet Malibu with optional side airbags
	Volkswagen Jetta
	Volkswagen Passat

Small
	Honda Civic

Minivans
no winners

Criteria to win gold and silver awards: Top Safety Pick winners reflect an elite fraction of the car market. Winners of the gold award have earned good ratings in the Institute's frontal offset and side impact crash tests, and their seat/head restraints are rated good for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. Silver awards go to vehicles with good performance in the front and side crash tests plus acceptable seat/head restraint ratings. Awards are by car size class because vehicle size and weight influence occupant protection in serious crashes. Larger, heavier cars generally afford more protection than smaller, lighter ones.

Top Safety Picks indicate the best choices for safety within each size class, but they don't mean a small car that's an award winner affords better protection than a larger car that didn't win a Top Safety Pick. Almost all of the 10 winners are relatively new designs, and they all have side airbags designed to protect people's heads. This reflects the improvements manufacturers have been making in the side and rear crash protection afforded by their newer cars (most vehicles have afforded good occupant protection in frontal crashes for several years).

"This is one reason Volkswagen and Audi cars are 5 of the 10 award winners. This company has introduced 5 new designs since the 2005 model year and made the commitment to ensure that these designs perform well in Institute tests," O'Neill points out.

Winners by vehicle size class: Among large family cars, the Ford Five Hundred and its twin Mercury Montego were new designs for the 2005 model year. However, only the models with optional side airbags are Top Safety Pick winners. Another winner is the Audi A6, a large luxury model that was redesigned for the 2005 model year.

"The midsize group is the heart of the car market," O'Neill says. "About 40 percent of new cars sold every year are midsize, so it's good news that consumers have a number of Top Safety Pick choices in this size group from moderately priced to near luxury models."

Seven of the 10 Top Safety Picks are midsize. The Saab 9-3 and Subaru Legacy are gold award winners. The Audi A3, A4, Chevrolet Malibu with optional side airbags, and Volkswagen Passat and Jetta are silver award winners.

The Honda Civic is the only small car among the 13 the Institute has evaluated that meets the criteria for a Top Safety Pick. It's the only car in this size group that has earned a good overall rating in the Institute's side impact test.

No minivans are among the award winners. This doesn't mean minivans are unsafe. It means none of the current designs the Institute has tested meets the award criteria. The Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, and Nissan Quest are rated good for front and side crashworthiness, but their seat/head restraints are marginal or poor.

Automakers had opportunity to strive for awards: Earlier this year the Institute alerted automakers about the upcoming Top Safety Pick award and the criteria that would have to be met to earn one. The Institute offered to conduct early tests of any vehicles the manufacturers thought would be candidates for the award. Thus, all current car and minivan models were eligible for consideration.

"A number of automakers requested early tests, and based on our discussions with them we believe no other 2006 models would meet our Top Safety Pick criteria," O'Neill says. A number of major automakers including BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo aren't represented in the first set of winners.

How vehicles are evaluated: The Institute's frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of frontal offset crash tests at 40 mph. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures from a Hybrid III dummy in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.

Each vehicle's overall side evaluation is based on performance in a crash test in which the side of the vehicle is struck by a moving barrier representing the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented SID-IIs dummies, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact. Injury measures obtained from the two dummies, one in the driver seat and the other in the rear seat behind the driver, are used to determine the likelihood that a driver and/or passenger in a real-world crash would have sustained serious injury to various body regions. The movements and contacts of the dummies' heads during the crash also are evaluated. Structural performance is based on measurements indicating the amount of B-pillar intrusion into the occupant compartment.

Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry — the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seats with good or acceptable restraint geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph. Seats without good or acceptable geometry are rated poor overall because they cannot be positioned to protect many people.